What’s in the Glass: 50 Years of Drinking with Jaws

By Mike D’Apice, Whiskey Morgue

When I turned legal drinking age, one of the first beers I bought was Narragansett. My friends opted for Pabst Blue Ribbon—the more popular budget domestic, but as someone who grew up watching Jaws, I was sold on the iconic scene where a grizzled Quint (Robert Shaw) effortlessly crushes a can of Narragansett with his calloused hands. I didn’t even know what it tasted like, but I was fishing for nostalgia more than flavor.

Including the beer in the film was a deliberate move by director Steven Spielberg. While scouting locations on Martha's Vineyard, he noticed local fishermen drinking Narragansett - referred to at the marinas simply as "'Gansett." It was cheap, easy to find, and steeped in New England brewing history.

In 2005, after years of struggling to keep their head above water, the brand was independently purchased and transplanted in Rhode Island, beginning its modern-day renaissance. The beer however is contract brewed at the Genesee Brewing Company in Rochester, New York which, fun fact, is just down the street from the old city morgue, now home to Fright Rags.

The no-frills, blue-collar drinking doesn’t stop at that infamous beer—Jaws is full of booze, and the offerings are eclectic. The film opens with a beachside kegger where teens drink, smoke, and hook up to the sounds of an acoustic guitar player who looks like he’s absolutely shredding complex chords. Quint swigs moonshine from an opaque glass bottle and negotiates two cases of apricot brandy (and lunch upon return) as part of his contract to hunt the shark.Then there's my favourite (with obvious bias): the pre-dinner whiskey aperitif, followed by Brody (Roy Scheider) famously filling the pint glass he just used for his whiskey to the brim with red wine — ignoring Hooper’s (Richard Dreyfuss) polite suggestion to let it breathe.

And while the drinks may be varied, the common thread that hooks them all is their lack of pretension. They're simply catalysts — meant to bring people together to share stories around a table, build camaraderie, and offer just enough liquid courage to kick great white shark ass. 

Whether you’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jaws with friends or heading to a Fourth of July cookout, the film reminds us: it’s not about what’s in your glass, but who you’re sharing it with. With that said, I’m going to need a bigger glass!

Post created and provided by Whiskey Morgue